English council elections: Tories make more gains in the Red Wall
Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits Hartlepool after the Conservative Party candidate Jill Mortimer the Hartlepool By-election (Getty Images)
The Conservatives have won control of four councils and almost 100 new seats across the country, with the party making further inroads in traditional Labour areas in local elections in the North and the Midlands.
The Conservatives so far have won Harlow Council in Essex, Dudley Council in the West Midlands, Northumberland Council and Nuneaton & Bedworth in Warwickshire.
However, the party also lost control of the Cambridgeshire Council.
The results are continuing to come in for the 143 council elections that took place yesterday alongside a swathe of mayoral elections and the Hartlepool by-election.